Harry Turtledove
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Harry Turtledove
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Misplaced Legion
by
Harry Turtledove
As they faced one another in a duel of survival, the Roman tribune Marcus Scaurus held the spell-scribed sword of a Druid priest, and the Celtic chieftain Viridovix held a similar sword, bespelled by a rival Druid sorcerer. At the moment they touched, the two found themselves under a strange night sky where no stars were familiar and where Gaul and Rome were unknown. They were in an outpost of the embattled Empire of Videssos--in a world where magic and dark sorcery would test their skill and courage as no Roman legion had ever been tested before. |
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An Emperor for the Legion
by
Harry Turtledove
Foul sorcery had slain the Emperor. Now the army of Videssos, betrayed by one man's craven folly, fled in panic from the savage victors. But there was no panic in the Legion, mysteriously displaced from Gaul and Rome into this strange world of magic. Wearily, Tribune Marcus Scaurus led his men through the chaos and enemy hordes in search of winter quarters, to regroup and seek to join up with Thorisin Gavras, now rightful ruler of Videssos. But in Videssos the city, capital of the beleaguered realm, Ortaias Sphrantzes, whose cowardice had caused their defeat, now sat upon the throne. There, behind great walls that had always made the city impregnable to storm or siege, he ruled with the support of evil sorcery. Overthrowing him seemed impossible. Grimly, Marcus Scaurus began the long march through hostile country toward that seemingly hopeless attempt. |
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Legion of Videssos
by
Harry Turtledove
Since the Roman legion had been mysteriously transported to this world of magic, tribune Marcus Scaurus had served the rulers of war-torn Videssos well. He had been largely responsible for ousting the Pretender and putting Thorish Gavras on the throne. That, of course, made him a hero. Rome or Videssos, however, Fortune was a fickle goddess. Now he and the legion were returning in triumph to Videssos the city after defeating a well-entrenched army of rebel mercenaries. But Marcus, betrayed by the one closest to him, was returning to be seized, dragged before the Emperor, and questioned under truth-drug like a traitor. Of the court, only Alypia Gavra stuck by him -- but consorting with the Emperor's niece was dangerous. It could lead to exile -- or death! Yet Alypia was attractive. And Marcus was lonely . . . |
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Swords of the Legion
by
Harry Turtledove
In Videssos the city, tribune Marcus Scaurus was bored. The legion that had been magically transported to this strange world was far away. But the Emperor's niece Alypia was near -- and willing. When their secret trysts were betrayed, Emperor Thorisin Gavras was forced to condemn Marcus as a traitor -- but with a promise of freedom and Alypia, if he could reclaim a rebel province from a fanatic usurper, with no military aid. With only centurion Gaius Philippus, Marcus set out to try the seemingly impossible task. But the fates conspired against them, driving them further westward, into the innermost sanctum of Videssos' great enemy Yezd -- and toward the torture chambers of the evil, deathless wizard-prince Avshar. But behind them, without orders, the men of the legion were on the march! |
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In the Balance
by
Harry Turtledove
From Pearl Harbor to panzers rolling through Paris to the Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Midway, war seethed across the planet as the flames of destruction rose higher and hotter. And then, suddenly, the real enemy came. The invaders seemed unstoppable, their technology far beyond human reach. And never before had men been more divided. For Jew to unite with Nazi, American with Japanese, and Russian with German was unthinkable. But the alternative was even worse. As the fate of the world hung in the balance, slowly, painfully, humankind took up the shocking challenge . . . |
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Tilting the Balance
by
Harry Turtledove
The second volume in Turtledove's splendid alternative history saga about an alien invasion in the middle of World War II is as satisfying as In the Balance. The invading Lizards are making some progress but are handicapped by human tenacity, terran weather, and widespread addiction to ginger. Among the continuing characters, the German Col. Heinrich Jaeger and the Russian pilot Ludmilla Gorbunova have become lovers only just before being packed off in opposite directions to renew fighting the invaders. The American nuclear program is lurching forward, as is Sam Yeager's relationship with Barbara Larssen, whom he marries just before they discover that her husband Jens is still alive. Moishe Russie's flight from the Lizards requires the help of his British cousin, David Goldfarb; and so on through Turtledove's large cast of well-drawn figures both fictional and historical. And besides those well-realized characters, there is Turtledove's thorough command of storytelling and historiography to assure us that this is an irresistibly readable book. |
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Upsetting the Balance
by
Harry Turtledove
More than balance is upset in the third volume of Turtledove's massive saga about an alternative World War II in which all Earth combatants must unite against invading aliens. The book begins with the defection of a high-ranking Lizard leader to Earth and ends with the first recorded mutiny in Lizard military history. Meanwhile, human nuclear programs bear fruit, and Lizard retaliation follows apace, so that both sides wonder whether the planet will be habitable at the end of the bombslinging. On the individual level, Jewish refugee Moishe Russie finds a way to return to Jerusalem; killercraft pilot Teerts frees himself from the Japanese, then gets into combat almost as dangerous as his captivity was; Jens Larssen is finally and drastically cured of jealousy over his wife's remarriage; and Colonel Jager and Ludmila remain separated by politics, nationality, lots of hostile Lizards, and the general exigencies of war. |
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Striking the Balance
by
Harry Turtledove
At last, the triumphant conclusion to Turtledove's alternate history of a World War II in which reptilian invaders from outer space intervene. As faithful readers may have anticipated, the military outcome is an armed truce. The invading Lizards are ceded certain desert areas in return for evacuating the rest of the territory they occupy. The two sides, human and alien, watch one another carefully, the Lizards in fear of explosively developing human technology and the humans in fear of the Lizard colonizing fleet that is scheduled to arrive in the 1960s. As for the large cast of continuing characters, it can safely be said that Colonel Jx8a ger and Ludmila Gorbunova are together again, Otto Skorzeny goes out fighting, and in a real tour de force, Liu Han retrieves her daughter from Lizard scientists and works her way rapidly up the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party. There is plenty more that could be told: read this fine book. |
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Second Contact
by
Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove pays tribute to pulp science fiction, combining a favorite plot--invasion by technologically superior aliens--with an alternate history of WWII and its aftermath. His Worldwar Series began the story when a fleet of lizard-like aliens arrived to conquer Earth in May 1942. It ended in 1945 with a negotiated peace between the Race, the nuclear powers (the Reich, the USSR, and the USA), and the much-weakened Britain and Japan. Colonization: Second Contact continues the saga, but you need not read the previous series to enjoy it. When the colonists arrive in 1962, they're unprepared for a half-conquered world. After several of their ships are destroyed by a nuclear missile of mysterious origin, they accuse the conquest forces of incompetence. Muslims in the conquered Middle East are staging an Intifada, the Chinese Communists continue guerrilla warfare against the invaders, and everyone's smuggling ginger, which is powerfully addictive among the Race and has unanticipated effects on the female colonists. Turtledove's cast of characters includes sharply drawn alien soldiers and civilians as well as a mix of convincing historical and fictional humans from all over the world. He covers all the sixties issues: generational conflict, the drug culture, racial inequality, the threat of atomic apocalypse, and the frustration of soldiers in an unwinnable war. If you enjoy alternate history and old B movies, this book's for you. |
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Down to Earth
by
Harry Turtledove
Turtledove opens another ripping yarn of World War II Earth invaded by colonizing aliens with a revealing conversation between two Lizards (aliens). The more recent arrival accuses the 40-year veteran of turning into a Big Ugly (human) by forgetting the Race (Lizard-dom) in all its glory and caring only "for the immediate." That is one theme of an exciting novel. The Race and humans are becoming more alike as a generation grows up never knowing a world without Lizards. The invaders try to bribe and tax humans out of their religious beliefs and introduce offworld beasts that rapidly become pets--and pests. Meanwhile, humans demonstrate their capacity for catching up with Lizard technology with appalling haste. When Nazis threaten nuclear attack, the Lizards announce their willingness to sacrifice their new colony if it prevents humans from spreading to the Race's planets. Only reluctant cooperation can prevent planetary devastation, and the tentative attraction between a Lizard-raised young woman and the 20-year-old son of Major Sam Yeager underscores that fascinating process. |
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Aftershocks
by
Harry Turtledove
Hugo winner Turtledove lives up to his billing as the grand master of alternative history in the concluding volume of his trilogy (after 2000's Colonization: Down to Earth), set in the same universe as his Worldwar series, about a close encounter between the reptilian "Race" (or Lizards) and their human hosts/enemies/subjects (pick any or all) on "Tosev 3" (aka Earth) in the 1960s. Here he develops the previous volumes' theme of an emerging common culture, as revealed in the vivid saga of the Yeager family and the Lizard-raised Japanese-American woman, Kassquit, who gets a belated introduction to human sexuality. The author shows he can be just as deft with relationships as with action. Having already discovered politics, change, intrigue, treason and cold weather, the invading Race is now learning about bribery and monogamy. The humans have cheerfully looted their conquerors' technology to the point where the United States is fitting small asteroids with large rocket engines to use as bombardment weapons. In Europe, the ongoing complexities of human society show up in the much-diminished German Reich, where Jewish leader Mordecai Anielwicz and Luftwaffe astronaut Johannes Drucker join forces to find their missing families and prevent Jewish desperadoes from wreaking havoc with a stolen A-bomb. This novel is altogether excellent of its type, even if the ending will leave readers wondering hopefully about possible sequels. |
